Through our Catalyst Portfolio, we invest in markets where there is a high potential for impact, but where there are few precedents or benchmarks for success. This means that when we invest, we must take an even more flexible approach to risk, in pursuit of generating impact.
Our Catalyst Portfolio responds to persistent market failures, supports nascent markets and tests new solutions. These opportunities can arise where emerging technologies are not yet valued, first-mover disadvantages burden pioneer companies, or collective-action problems require co-ordinated investment across multiple actors before economies of scale can be reached. This is precisely where our higher risk appetite can support markets, before commercial capital kicks in.
Through our Kinetic Portfolio, we use concessional capital in different ways to support our partners – ranging from flexible debt to scale climate solutions, to blended finance structures that crowd in private investment. Kinetic has a higher risk tolerance than our Catalyst and Growth portfolios and can be blended with other forms of BII capital to make investments. While initially focused on climate, the Kinetic Portfolio is now expanding to target frontier markets and mobilise private capital at scale.
In 2025, we made £354.2 million of gross new Catalyst commitments.
We stepped up support for climate innovation, particularly in e-mobility, investing across the value chain from manufacturers to financing platforms. Investments including ARC Ride in Kenya, MAX in Nigeria and Ecofy in India are helping scale cleaner, more affordable transport.
We also backed solutions addressing persistent market gaps. Through Acumen’s Hardest-to-Reach Fund, we are helping to expand access to affordable renewable energy in countries where electricity access is as low as 12 per cent. And our investment in Aruwa Capital Management – a female-founded and -led fund in Nigeria – is helping close the early-stage funding gap for technology-enabled and innovative companies across West Africa, particularly those led by women entrepreneurs.
Alongside this, we continued to develop new investment models to unlock impact. In Zambia, we launched Growth Investment Partners, a long‑term investment platform providing patient capital to local SMEs.
In 2025, we made 14 Kinetic investments, using concessional capital to unlock opportunities across three priorities: climate innovation, frontier markets and mobilisation.
Climate-focused investments remain the backbone of the portfolio. We support businesses developing and scaling solutions with transformative potential, from climate-smart agriculture to distributed renewable energy. For example, our investment in Babban Gona in Nigeria is helping smallholder farmers adapt to climate change through access to finance, training and climate-smart inputs, including drought-resistant seeds and insurance. We also supported MOPO, a British company offering solar-charged batteries to families and small businesses in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
We also expanded our focus on frontier markets, where perceived risk constrains the flow of commercial investment. In Ethiopia, our backing of Lovegrass is strengthening local agro-processing and improving market access for farmers.
Alongside this, we are increasingly using concessional capital to boost the flow of private capital into developing and emerging economies. Our commitment to Pentagreen’s Green Investment Partnership (GIP) is mobilising private capital to support green infrastructure and accelerate South-East Asia’s low-carbon transition. Read more in the case study on this page.
